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07:14, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Closed: He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Posted by Shawn's Mom - Ethel CramerFor group archive 0
Eric 'Trenk' Trenkenschue
NPC, 41 posts
Thu 12 Oct 2017
at 02:09
  • msg #9

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Erik 'Trenk' might not have heard or noticed Shawn in the moment after he spoke that one word. His eyes seemed to float in his distant, serene face. A deep unease had stealthily settled into the room, Erik standing there, swaying slightly.

His clothes looked like they were brand new. A black Thundercats T-shirt with the red logo of the wild cat in the center. Short stone-washed cut-off shorts that seemed to be just off of the rack at the store.

But Erik's skin was pale. His face had a grayish pallor and he wore a worried look, brows knitted like he was in a state of prolonged anxiety that had kept him up for hours. His hair was disheveled, and he looked skinnier. Like he had lost a few pounds. His cheek bones were tight against the skin of his face in a way Shawn hadn't noticed before.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1088 posts
Thu 12 Oct 2017
at 02:18
  • msg #10

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"You seem better." It was a foolish thing to say, but it just slipped out of Shawn. And sure, right now Eric looked like a nervous wreck, but it was a far cry from the bloody, bruised Eric that had attacked him back at the Circus.
Eric 'Trenk' Trenkenschue
NPC, 42 posts
Fri 13 Oct 2017
at 09:05
  • msg #11

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Eric was looking down at the floor as Shawn spoke, his eyes snapping open.

"I should have never taken that Rabbit's foot."
Eric said, his voice raspy and filled with remorse.

"If I never took that Rabbit's foot, everything would have been the same."
His eyes were sunken, his shoulders slumped. He looked more like a defeated zombie than a boy enjoying the last month of summer.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1089 posts
Fri 13 Oct 2017
at 11:53
  • msg #12

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"I know." Shawn blew out a heavy sigh. It seemed like Eric wasn't handling the revelation about the Circus any better than Shawn did; the only difference was that Shawn was better at hiding it. "If it makes you feel better, you're probably safe as long as you keep your head down."
Eric 'Trenk' Trenkenschue
NPC, 43 posts
Sat 14 Oct 2017
at 00:48
  • msg #13

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Eric shook his head in abject disagreement. His movements were slow and awkward, like he was carrying a heavy yoke around his neck that limited his ability to balance himself. His face was gloomy but his words were certain.

"No." His objected

"You're wrong."

"We'll never be safe. Ever."
he stated with complete certainty

"We got involved with it. And now its never going to let us go. It's not just going to take us down. It's going to take everything we know and care about away too."

Shawn Cramer
player, 1091 posts
Sat 14 Oct 2017
at 04:53
  • msg #14

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Shawn just looked as Eric as he expressed one of Shawn's most deep-seated fears, that at the end of the day, this was just pointless struggling against the inevitable. "How do you know?" Their shared trauma made Shawn much less reluctant to question or contradict Eric openly.
Eric 'Trenk' Trenkenschue
NPC, 44 posts
Sat 14 Oct 2017
at 13:31
  • msg #15

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"You know it too." Eric said, looking up to meet Shawn's gaze with dull, vacant eyes, rimmed with purple.

"Can't you feel it?"

Shawn Cramer
player, 1093 posts
Sat 14 Oct 2017
at 14:01
  • msg #16

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"I still have hope." Shawn didn't know why he was lying, but he did it anyway. Maybe because the alternative was even worse, that admitting that it was all pointless would also be admitting all the terrible things he'd done were for nothing.
Eric 'Trenk' Trenkenschue
NPC, 45 posts
Sun 15 Oct 2017
at 04:09
  • msg #17

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Eric didn't reply to Shawn with judgement or dismissal. Far from it. Instead he sighed.

"Then you're better than me."
He said in a voice the croaked as if he was going to cry. "I keep thinking that its your fault somehow. And then I remember that I took the Rabbit's foot from you. If I just hadn't done that. Something so stupid as a Rabbit's foot."

"And now I have to worry about my little brother. And my little sister..." He said, voice croaking again. He swallowed several times, keeping the tears at bay by clearing his throat. "Max was going to go into kindergarten this year. And I was going to show him how to throw a baseball now that he's older."


"But now...."
He looked over at Eddy. "I can't do that..." he swallowed again, and then rubbed his eyes, a last ditch effort perhaps to avoid collapsing in front of Shawn, or perhaps to stop himself from sobbing and breaking down into a fit of tears.

"I already told Max not to go to sleep with the lights off. And I told him to stay away from you. Because you're part of it. Just like I am. I told him to stay away from me too."

Shawn Cramer
player, 1096 posts
Sun 15 Oct 2017
at 04:46
  • msg #18

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"That's smart. Even if we can't save ourselves, maybe we can save the people we're close it."
Eric 'Trenk' Trenkenschue
NPC, 46 posts
Sun 15 Oct 2017
at 12:27
  • msg #19

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Eric laughed a joyless, sputtering laugh. Now he was dismissing Shawn's argument.

"Sometimes, the only thing that we can do to stop things. Is to stop ourselves." He said in a despondent tone.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1098 posts
Sun 15 Oct 2017
at 13:09
  • msg #20

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"I'm not going to do that. You shouldn't either." Shawn folded his arms and spoke seriously and sincerely. He could follow Eric's line of thought, and he didn't like where it was going.
Eric 'Trenk' Trenkenschue
NPC, 47 posts
Mon 16 Oct 2017
at 01:49
  • msg #21

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"Promise me you'll stop." Eric said, his voice a last-ditch bargainer.

Shawn had heard something like it before. A long time ago in Wisconsin. He heard through the vents of the old apartment they lived in when he was four years old a woman say 'promise me you'll stop seeing her!'

The sound had come through the air vent near the kitchen while mom was making noodles.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1099 posts
Mon 16 Oct 2017
at 02:06
  • msg #22

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"Do you really think that'll protect anyone? It won't. It's just the easy way out." Shawn was near tears, trying to convince himself as much as Eric.
Eric 'Trenk' Trenkenschue
NPC, 48 posts
Tue 17 Oct 2017
at 01:08
  • msg #23

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"PROMISE!" Eric yelled suddenly at Shawn. The fear and anger--and probably regret--boiling over. It was the first time since...

Well since Eric had used to attack him or bully him. But that wasn't so long ago, even though much had transpired since the middle of the summer.

The venom in Eric's voice was familiar. But there was something different about it as well. Along with the disdain and malevolence, Eric's shouting was lined with a desperation. An ugly fear. He sounded somewhat like cornered dog that had barked a snapping bark.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1102 posts
Tue 17 Oct 2017
at 01:46
  • msg #24

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

The sudden anger in Eric's voice suddenly changed the dynamic - Shawn was no longer trying to persuade the older boy, he was trying to avoid his ire. Eric was a threat; something to appease, avoid, or trick somehow, not a fellow traveller. "I've gotta go..." He had dropped off his flowers, and since Eric had arrived he had a ready-made excuse for why he was leaving early ('Eric was a closer friend, I didn't want to disturb them').
Shawn's Mom - Ethel Cramer
NPC, 70 posts
Tue 17 Oct 2017
at 09:17
  • msg #25

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

After Shawn spoke, he could see the anger in Eric's eyes and the defeat. Time was that Eric would chase Shawn down. But this wasn't the playground or even the neighborhood.

And so Shawn left Eric in the room with Eddy and entered the hallway.

Mom approached him with a quizzical look.

"Everything alright?"
She asked. "I though I heard yelling in there."
Shawn Cramer
player, 1103 posts
Tue 17 Oct 2017
at 11:57
  • msg #26

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Shawn nodded seriously. "Eddy's friend Eric's visiting too. He feels really bad about what happened to Eddy, and I wanted to give him privacy."
Shawn's Mom - Ethel Cramer
NPC, 71 posts
Wed 18 Oct 2017
at 01:44
  • msg #27

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"Shawn. I have really good news!" Mom said, glossing over Shawn's response.

"Mrs. Worthington called! She's agreed to represent you as an agent, and I think she might have a movie in mind!"
Mom was giddy with excitement and stood out from the other somber faces that lined the hallway, no doubt upset at the circumstances of people they knew in the Intensive Care Unit.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1106 posts
Wed 18 Oct 2017
at 03:59
  • msg #28

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Shawn hugged his Mom with relief, more because it seemed like she was finally back to normal than the actual reality of going back to show-business. "That's great!"
Shawn's Mom - Ethel Cramer
NPC, 72 posts
Thu 19 Oct 2017
at 00:44
  • msg #29

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

People in the hospital--nervous and distraught faces, diligent nurses, an old woman in a wheelchair--they all gave Shawn and his Mom disapproving looks at the level of noise.

"It's such great news honey. With this second chance, you'll finally be able to get everything you always wanted: a star in Hollywood! Oh sweety, my baby is going to be a star!"
Shawn Cramer
player, 1107 posts
Thu 19 Oct 2017
at 01:12
  • msg #30

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

Shawn noticed the looks they were getting from other people and tried to modulate his energy in hopes that Mom would take his cue. "Can we tell Dad?"
Shawn's Mom - Ethel Cramer
NPC, 73 posts
Fri 20 Oct 2017
at 13:06
  • msg #31

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

"Honey...." Mom started. "We need to tell EVERYONE!" She shouted, oblivious to the concern that others were showing to the volume of the conversation. She was completely engrossed in the idea.

Though Mom may have forgotten, or perhaps never paid any mind to it, Shawn had not: Dad clearly did not approve of Shawn's movie career. That was the clear indication he had given when the subject invariably turned to career vs. grades. Dad had also expressed a sort of male-skepticism towards the idea of performance in general.
Shawn Cramer
player, 1111 posts
Fri 20 Oct 2017
at 15:11
  • msg #32

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

“Let’s!” Shawn took his Mom’s hand and seemingly in excitement started to pull her along to where hopefully her joy would be more appropriate.
Storyteller
GM, 438 posts
Sat 21 Oct 2017
at 02:26
  • msg #33

He's Not Right, He'll Never Be Right....

OOC: End Thread

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